Emptyknitster

As far as animals were concerned, there were several firsts on our vacation. At the beginning of our stay we woke up to some very familiar bird sounds.... Knock, knock. Who's there? "Your friends - the turkeys, and it's a hella'va lot nicer here than in Montana!" Why did the turkey cross the road? To get to the beach, silly! We had never seen a manta ray at Hapuna Beach, so that was very exciting to be able to swim with one, and there was also a turtle at Hapuna which, although not a first, was still exciting. On other beaches we saw many pretty birds, turtles, sea cucumbers, sand crabs, whales, and just hanging loose were the geckos and mongooses.

One of the great things about this vacation was just relaxing on the beach reading. I packed Pillars of the Earth by Follett and lugged it on the plane across the country thinking that this one book would be my entire two week vacation read. I was off on my estimation and instead the book turned out to be only an eight day read. In hindsight quickly finishing a book shouldn't have been a surprise when reading is your only activity other than: 1) rolling over every 20 minutes to ensure an even tan 2) moving under the umbrella to avoid a burn  3) dangling your toes into the ocean If you like historical fiction, England, and books that span over many years of a medieval family's life, this read is a must. I was glad to have finished any book. I hadn't read a book since summer, but there were 6 more sand filled days to go before we flew home, hmmmm...    We were staying in a house that had a small bookshelf. While snooping, I hit pay dirt! At the time, I thought ...

Hubby is a very hard guy to buy a gift for but the gu rls outdid themselves! For his birthday, knowing we were going to make this trip to Hawaii, they bought him a tour to the Mauna Kea Observatory. Lucky me, it was a ticket for two!!  We meet our tour group at three o'clock in 83 degree heat. The tour guide was a geologist and while driving up the mountain he talked nonstop about the island. Great information! Until the drive up we didn't know that there a re two types of lava rock:     "...pahoehoe (pa-hoy-hoy) and a'a (ah ah). Pahoehoe lava comes out smooth and dense and can form large areas that resemble flat parking lots or smooth bumps. A'a, on the other hand, forms individual rocks anywhere from a few inches to many feet in size. The rocks are porous and very jagged. In general, pahoehoe is very easy to walk on and a'a is very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to walk on (at least without getting hurt)." Or this tidbit: "Mauna Kea...

 One of the first things we did upon arrival on the Big Island was to go to our favorite beach - Hapuna. I decided that I would get back to walking after spraining my ankle and hubby decided he would work at...relaxing! Sometime Monday afternoon we noticed that the south part of the beach was very quickly being cleared. Everyone was being told to leave and move further up the beach. Everything was very official even Hawaii 5-0 was there! Being very bold tourists Hubby went over to get the straight scoop and found out that a military ordnance had been discovered by one of the life guards.  Tuesday the entire beach was closed. We were sad but the closure forced us to seek out other beaches on the island. Although they are nice, Hupuna still remains our favorite and we were glad two thirds of the beach opened on Wednesday. Friday the military came in and “... exploded a World War II 16-inch unfused projectile that was found in the waters off Hapuna Beach on the Big Island...

A week before we hopped on the plane to Hawaii I decided that it was necessary for me to have a new sweater to wear in the evenings. I got on the computer and found a great little pattern, Lady Kina, but didn't want to use wool yarn so set out on a yarn hunt. I took a risk on Caron Spa yarn. it's acrylic and bamboo, perfect!  I also knit some vacation socks! Knitting socks is a great way to pass the time on an airplane and the warm evenings after a day at the beach. I finished these socks while on vacation and wanted to take a fun picture - hubby said I looked like a dork and when I looked around I could tell others on the beach thought so too! But I’m pretty sure YOU understand the need for a fun picture, right? This is Donna’s pattern but I added Carol’s picot edge at the top - Knit 7 rows, 8th row YO, K2tog around, then K7 rows, fold tog and pick up a cast on stitch and knit the two together around.

Just can't wait to share photos and good times from my vacation but first I have to get caught up and back in the swing of things. Tomorrow I'm excited to begin teaching a class for fellow teachers entitled "Math Through Knitting". Before I left two weeks ago, I wrote a reminder to all teachers taking the class, however, today when one of the gals came to me, so excited and wanting to show me her supplies, it was replaced by a shocked look on her face when I said, "Oh, does that start tomorrow?" I must admit I am still "hanging loose"! Tonight I have had to pull everything together, E Zimmerman books, different needles and yarns to share, a sample of their beginning project, yada yada. Thank goodness I had the class all planned and the handouts ready to go! One BIG surprise upon my return was this email: Good morning. I am a member of the Addison (VT) Historical Society, and live in home constructed by Dr. Prentiss Dana Cheney here  in Addis...

The Tiger Thanksgiving 2010 Ever since The Tiger started to talk he's been confused just what to call Hubby and I. He knows we're Grandpa or Grandma but can't seem to get the name attached to the correct person.  Or so I thought ...   The Grandma Test      I walked down by the Lake to the swing with my Grandson, Ian.  He picked up something off of the ground and started to put it in his mouth. I took the item away from him and asked him not to do that.        "Why?" my Grandson asked.        "Because it's been on the ground; you don't know where it's been, it's dirty, and probably has germs," I replied.        At this point, my Grandson looked at me with total admiration and asked, "...